Maria Cristina Laureano is a public relations major in her final year of the Creative Communications (CreComm) program at Red River College in conjunction with the Joint Communications Program at The University of Winnipeg.

Laureano created After the Cocoon for her graduation project for her program. She chose to focus on a collection of stories and photographs of Canadian burn survivors because of her own personal experiences as a burn survivor.

Laureano was nine-months-old when she pulled a pot of boiling water on herself. This resulted in second and third degree burns located on her upper body, which she’s able to hide. Although Laureano has been a burn survivor for most of her life, it’s only recently that she has chosen to share this aspect of her life in order to help other burn survivors.

Along with her studies in communications, Laureano is a freelance photographer, writer and award-winning blogger. Her work has been featured in The Filipino Journal, The Projector, The Uniter and The Winnipeg Sun.